The Judicial Advocacy Plan

The Judicial Advocacy Plan

Given the limitations on Taiwan's judicial capacity as well as public sentiments and pressure, delivering verdicts on sexual offences is met with great challenges. Although this implies active engagement on the public's part, misunderstandings may exist between Taiwanese citizens and the judicial system, resulting in dissatisfaction over the judicature (i.e. annotations provided by judicial personnel, law enforcement procedures, and trials and final verdicts). In addition, failure of the judicial personnel to communicate with the public has further widened the gaps.

To avoid intensifying the opposition between the public and judicial authorities, TCAV attempted to promote rational exchanges by establishing a communication platform. In 2013, members of the coalition, along with other experts and civic groups, began to conduct round-table discussions in county courts. In 2014 and 2015, the round-table discussions expanded to the High Court and the Supreme Court; between judicial authorities, experts, civic groups, and various network units, the discussions afforded a communication platform and facilitated mutual understanding. Furthermore, this provided an opportunity for victims and experts to share their perspectives and insights with judicial personnel, providing judicial personnel with new knowledge, informing them of core values of CEDAW, and reaching a consensus between all stakeholders on the following issues:

(1) Medical examination reform

(2) Criminal Law Article 10 - the definition of reproductive organs

(3) CEDAW

(4) Gender stereotypes

(5) Misconceptions on sexual offences

(6) Criminal Law Article 59 - commutation

(7) Criminal Law Article 227 - when the actual sentence is less than the statutory sentence